Lundy Defeats Almaraz

By Boxing News - 05/26/2008 - Comments

By William MacKay: In a particularly badly scored fight, undefeated light welterweight prospect Henry Lundy (11-0-1, 6 KOs) defeated Esteban Almaraz (7-1, 4 KOs) by a 4-round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Twin River Even Center, in Lincoln, Rhode Island. It was especially hard for me to see Lundy, 24, winning considering that he’d been knocked down twice in the fight, first in round one and then another time in the 4th and deciding round.

In between that, Almaraz appeared to win both the 2nd and 3rd rounds, landing more often with crisper shots. Both fighters were down in the 1st round, though Lundy looked to be the more aggressor in the round, landing some powerful left hands in the last minute of the round. With the fight still possibly up for grabs in the 4th round, Almaraz landed a perfect left-right combination that spun Lundy almost completely around, causing him to tough both his gloves to the canvas to prevent from falling down.

I wasn’t as shocked as I would normally have been by the horrible decision, though, given the fact that Lundy came into the fight already having fought once before on ESPN, an exciting 4-round draw with Darnell Jiles in March, and it would have taken something special to knock him off his pedestal. However, he didn’t win this fight with Almaraz, as far as I’m concerned. They really need to fight a rematch because this fight can’t leave Lundy feeling all too good given his two knockdowns in the fight.

In the 1st round, Lundy came out a bit too fast, perhaps thinking he could bum rush Almaraz like he did with Jiles and perhaps knock him out quickly. Unfortunately, Lundy paid dearly when he was quickly dropped with a left-right from Alamaraz. After getting up off the canvas and receiving a standing eight from the referee, Lundy began briefly showing a little more respect for Almaraz. However, moments later, Lundy returned the favor, knocking Almaraz down with a powerful right-left combination.

Almaraz, unlike Lundy, was really hurt from the knockdown and was a little unsteady for the remainder of the round. There wasn’t enough time for Lundy to put him down again, and he missed his chance by throwing his shots a little too wildly while trying to finish him off.

Almaraz recovered well between rounds, and began landing excellent combinations in the 2nd round. Lundy, for his part, was once again fighting cautiously after taking some big shots at the start of the round. He was mostly looking for one big shot, hoping, I guess, to reproduce his earlier knockout. It wasn’t happening, though, and he began to get outworked by Alamraz, who kept putting his punches together.

By mid-round, Almaraz was hitting Lundy with big flurries, catching him with repeated head shots. Lundy seemed not to know what to do with his, for he’d stalk and get close, getting ready to punch, and then would be greeted with a hail of fire from Almaraz. It was as if Almaraz wasn’t going to wait on Lundy and let him set up his own attack.

The third round was close, with Lundy landing some big shots but Almarez both the more accurate puncher and the one who landed at a slightly higher percentage. Lundy did well in the last half minute of the round, landing some big left hands, which may have been enough for him to win the round.

In the 4th round, however, Almaraz left no doubt who the better fighter was, as he tagged Lundy with a perfect combination at the start of the round that spun Lundy around like a top, causing him to reach down with his gloves to touch the canvas to prevent from falling. Lundy attempted to make up for the knockdown, but it wasn’t enough, for Almaraz finished the round strong, out-landing Lundy for the rest of the way.

In the end, Almaraz seemed clearly to be the more poised, better skilled fighter of the two. ESPN has to get these two back in the ring because the wrong fighter was given the decision.